Creature Features

We get this question a lot. Nearly every day, visitors ask our naturalists why they can’t find sea stars in our Tide Pool Touch Tank anymore. It’s not because these animals are really good at hiding, or that we’ve forgotten to put any in the tank. Unfortunately,

Lined Seahorses (Hippocampus erectus) mate for life and are monogamous. The male typically courts the female for several days before mating. Females produce eggs and deposit them in the male’s pouch, where he incubates them for approximately 21 days. Uniquely, the male gives birth to the young and can have 100-1,000 babies at one time!Read More

Moon jellies, like the ones on exhibit at the Seacoast Science Center, are found off the New England shore and in the ocean world-wide. Naturalist Nikki presents an overview of how they move, eat, and more.
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Chain catsharks (a.k.a. chain dogfish) are named after their cat-like eyes and chain-link pattern. Serving as camouflage, along with its white belly, the chain pattern looks like waves in the ocean to its predators. The shark’s sensory lateral line and ampullae of Lorenzini (on the shark’s snout) help sense changes in the water and locate

Ocean Pout have an antifreeze protein that allows them to live in near freezing waters off the coast of New England and Canada. Scientists have succeeded in taking genes from ocean pout and implanting them into Atlantic Salmon. The promoter for the antifreeze protein gene is used in conjunction with a growth hormone gene

SSC Aquarist Rob Royer heads down to tide pools of Odiorne Point State Park in early spring to take a look at some of the algae and finds young species and species in their reproductive stage, ready to release their eggs.
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On Sunday, March 18, 2018, the Seacoast Science Center Marine Mammal Rescue Team (MMRT) released Mack the harp seal back into the wild. After four weeks of care at the National Marine Life Center Mack was ready for his swim back to the Arctic. Nearly 1,000 people witnessed the event, held on the same

On Sunday, March 18, 2018, the Seacoast Science Center Marine Mammal Rescue Team (MMRT) released Mack the harp seal back into the wild. A “poster-child of a healthy harp seal,” Mack was fit, fat, and ready for his swim back to the Arctic after four weeks of care at the National Marine Life Center.

Although cuttlefish cannot see color, they have amazing color-changing abilities! Referred to as the “chameleons of the sea,” cuttlefish can instantly change their skin color to communicate to other cuttlefish and to camouflage. Common Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) are cephalopods (meaning head-footed), and are in a group of mollusks that also include octopus and squid,